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Much Ado About Aliens
Much Ado About Aliens is the seventh episode of ''Tech 10: Rebooted''. Episode “Okay kid, here it is. Galvan Prime.” Tech looked out the Plumber ship’s viewing port, seeing the quickly approaching shape of a large green planet. “Now, are you absolutely sure Azmuth’s going to talk to you?” The pilot asked. “He’s not too keen on visitors, and this is pretty far off our designated flight path.” “Well, if he doesn’t,” Tech replied, glancing down at the wrecked remains of the SpecTrix. “I’d be very surprised." ---- Tech walked down the halls of a large building, escorted by a Galvanic Mechamorph guard. Convincing security to let him in wasn’t exactly easy, but the SpecTrix, or, at least, what was left of it, had helped verify his story. After a few minutes, the guard paused and gestured forward. “You’ll find Azmuth in the first room to your left.” The guard said. “Don’t try any funny business. We’ll know what you’re up to.” Tech glanced up at a barely visible camera lens embedded in the ceiling. “Gee, I wonder how you’d do that?” He snarked. The guard simply turned back and walked away without offering a response. Tech shrugged and continued walking. “You know, the funny thing is, that guy was still, like, ten times more helpful than Alvono.” He said to himself. After a few more minutes of walking, Tech spotted an open door on his left. As he approached it, he heard two arguing voices growing louder. When he reached the door frame, he cautiously peeked his head into the room. The two parties arguing turned out to be an old Galvan, which Tech assumed to be Azmuth, and a blueish-green figure about six feet tall. “This is hardly the time to be stubborn!” Azmuth chided the figure. “Trying to argue about an incident this ancient does nothing but waste our time, which, lest you forget, we have very little of.” “What do you expect me to do, then?” The tall figure snapped. “Even if I were willing to sweep it under the rug, I extremely doubt either of my compatriots would; and, lest you forget, they’re pretty much entirely necessary for this.” “I don’t expect you to forget about it, I expect you to set your personal problems aside and do your job!” Tech slowly stepped into the room. “Uh...Is this a bad time?” He asked nervously. “Don’t worry about it.” Azmuth replied, glowering at the tall figure. “As a matter of fact, he was just leaving.” The tall figure shook his head. “Whatever, I’ll go. I’ll try to talk my men into helping, but I can’t make any promises.” He turned and started walking towards the door, momentarily stopping next to Tech. “Hey, human. Watch your back.” “...Why?” Tech asked warily. “Humans and Galvans...have never had a particularly good track record.” “Magister Blue.” Azmuth firmly said. “Leave.” The Magister shrugged and left the room, leaving behind a very confused Tech. “What was that all about?” He asked. “Nothing you need to worry about.” Azmuth waved the question off. “Now, you said you have my SpecTrix?” “Yeah, right here.” Tech replied, pulling up his sleeve and removing the device. “Well, what’s left of it, anyway.” Azmuth took the wrecked SpecTrix and began examining it. “Let’s see...core’s still intact, that’s good...screen interface is pretty much destroyed...dial looks decent, but is pretty much unusable...yeah, this needs to be trashed.” “Wait, what?!” Tech exclaimed. “You can’t fix it?!” “Look kid, I don’t know what you did to this thing, but trying to fix it at this point would be like trying to un-cook an egg. It’s not going to work.” Azmuth tossed the broken SpecTrix husk into a trash chute on the far wall. “If you ask me, that thing getting broken was a good thing. Far less trouble for me.” “Uh, about that.” Tech said. “You see, I kinda sorta maybe...made a few enemies.” Azmuth froze in place, his left eye starting to twitch. “Aaaaand by a ‘few’ I mean a lot.” “...” “Like, a couple of entire criminal organizations.” “...” “And an electric space crab with mind control.” “...” “And some golden-armored guy that just blew up a city and shot a hole through my chest.” “...” “And-” “Okay, I get the point!” Azmuth snapped. “I’ll print you up a new one! I suppose I’ve been meaning to test run the redesign anyway.” Azmuth walked towards a large machine with a small holoscreen interface and began pressing buttons. “Hold on a second, ‘print’?” Tech asked. “What do you mean ‘print’?” Azmuth sighed. “Your species has rudimentary three-dimensional printers now, correct?” He asked. “Well, yeah, but they’re kinda basic.” “Okay. Now, imagine that technology, but from a species with at least a fifty-thousand year head start.” “...Point taken.” After a few seconds, the machine began rumbling and whirring as the mechanisms inside it sprang to life. “So...how long does this usually take?” Tech asked. “Oh, about...that long.” Azmuth replied. Almost immediately after Azmuth finished speaking, the machine dinged, a slot on it opening up and unceremoniously dropping the newly-minted SpecTrix 2.0 onto the floor. “I should really put a pillow there or something.” Azmuth mused, stroking his beard strands. “At any rate, the new SpecTrix is ready for use.” Tech walked over to the machine and picked up the SpecTrix, looking it over, then clamped it onto his wrist. “Wow, that was...easy.” He noted. “Indeed.” Azmuth replied. “Of course, this hardly means you can go around destroying these things left and right. It does take quite a few resources to make, after all.” “Can’t say I was planning on getting this thing smashed up anytime soon, but thanks for the advice anyway.” “Oh, a few things to note about the redesign before you leave.” Azmuth said. “First of all, where the original SpecTrix was simply designed to tinker around with DNA, the new one has been more optimized for extended use outside of the laboratory, so it’ll be a lot more stable than the old one. Second, the new SpecTrix will occasionally send me data packets indicative of its status, so I’ll know if you do something stupid with it. Finally, it’s been reenforced with an experimental metal alloy this time around, so it won’t be as easy to break. On the downside, it’s also much more likely to break your arm than give way if you get hit too hard. So watch out for that.” “Anything else?” Tech asked. “No, that should be it.” “Uh, okay. Thanks.” “...” “...” “Why are you still here?” “Sorry, leaving now.” ---- Aquadilus was pacing in front of the communications line that had previously been synced to the SpecTrix, quietly grumbling something incoherent. Alvono, on the other hand, was seated at the computer as usual. Ever since communication with Tech had been cut off, the room had been almost deadly silent, with only Aquadilus’s mumbling breaking the quiet. “Okay dude, stop pacing.” Alvono finally spoke up. “You’re going to wear a hole in the floor and seriously decrease this place’s resell value.” Aquadilus shot Alvono a hard glare, then resumed pacing. “Are you seriously that worried about Tech?” Alvono asked. “Not really.” Aquadilus replied. “I’m more worried about what his mother will do to me if he ends up dead.” “Yeah, humans do get weirdly attached to their offspring.” Alvono conceded. “But hey, this is Tech we’re talking about. He’ll probably be teleporting in any mome-” Alvono was interrupted by a sudden flash of green light, which quickly faded to reveal a rather unceremoniously dizzy Tech. “Well, speak of the devil.” Tech stumbled around for a few seconds before regaining his balance and promptly dropping himself into his office chair. “Old teleporter made me dizzy and tingly, new one makes just me dizzy, got it.” “Tech, what the hell?!” Aquadilus snapped. “Where were you?!” “Woah, calm down, man!” Tech quickly replied, throwing up his hands. “What’s gotten into you?!” “We thought you were dead!” “I was dead!” “...” “...” “...Say what?” “I got better.” Aquadilus furrowed his brow in confusion. “That explains nothing.” “Seriously, dude.” Alvono said. “Start from the top, please.” “Ugh, fine.” Tech proceeded to explain everything that had happen, going into particular detail about his fight with Dethrouge. After a few seconds of mulling this new information over, Alvono decided to break the silence. “So, uh...this Dethrouge guy...do you think you can stop him?” Tech shook his head. “Rockoustic couldn’t so much as make a dent in his armor.” He replied. “There’s just no way to damage him.” “Why not just evolve Rockoustic?” Alvono asked. “Whenever you evolve an alien, things seem to work out for ya.” “I’m barely getting the hang of Rockoustic’s normal form. I’d probably blow up whatever planet I’m trying to protect before Dethrouge could.” “You know, there’s something I’m wondering.” Aquadilus piped up. “If this guy is so powerful, shouldn’t we have heard of him before?” “That’s a good point.” Tech agreed. “It’s like he just popped up out of nowhere. If we knew where he came from, we might be able to figure out how his powers work and shut them down. Thing is, I’d hardly know where to start looking.” “Maybe I can help with that.” Tech, Alvono, and Aquadilus whipped their heads around to see where the new voice had come from. A tall, bronze-armored figure was standing in the doorway, polishing his sword. “Sorry if I interrupted anything.” Igneoux said. “Are you busy?” ---- “How did you get in here?” Aquadilus asked. “The employee door was locked.” “You hid the key under the doormat.” Igneoux explained. Tech shot a glare at Alvono. “Really, Alvono?” He snapped. “''Really''?” “Hey, when you tell people to hide a key, you need to be more specific as to where!” Alvono protested. “You know I’m not good at critical thinking!” Tech groaned in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Okay, back on topic.” He grumbled. “Igneoux, what are you doing here?” “I saw the Dethrouge incident on the news.” Igneoux replied. “I figured you would probably be involved somehow.” “Why?” Aquadilus asked. “And why do you care? You never get involved with anything else that happens around here.” Igneoux sighed. “I suppose I knew I’d have to say this eventually.” He began. “You see, I’m actually-” “Me from an alternate timeline.” Tech interjected. “-Tech from an alternate-” Igneoux continued for a few moments, before realizing what Tech had just said. “Okay, how did you know?” “It’s pretty obvious, man.” Tech replied. “I mean, come on, the sword, the attitude, the armor clearly covering up a transformation matrix,” He elaborated, pointing towards the circular port on Igneoux’s left arm. “and the fact that the SpecTrix recognized two of my DNA signatures in the same area before it bugged out.” The room fell silent for a few moments as everyone present stared at Tech. “Do you have any idea the amount of mental gymnastics coming to that conclusion with that sort of evidence would require?” Aquadilus asked incredulously. “Well then, call me Larisa Latynina, because I just won the Mental Olympics gold!” Aquadilus stared forward blankly for a few moments, then turned and stormed out of the room. “''Not dealing with this today''!” He yelled, slamming the door behind him. After a few seconds, Tech pulled out a small pocket calender and scribbled a checkmark on the current date. “And we are checked off for the week!” He exclaimed, putting back the small calender. “Anyways, where were we?” “Dethrouge.” Igneoux answered. “We were talking about Dethrouge.” “Oh, right! Okay, as I was saying, we’re pretty much screwed. Any ideas?” “Well, back in my home dimension, I was actually able to defeat my Dethrouge. Problem was, it took a few straight days of fighting and an unfortunate number of torched cities, not to mention the death of my Igneoux.” “And how do we stop that from happening?” “I can’t make any promises, but I think you have a better chance of taking your Dethrouge down quickly, if what I’ve seen so far is any indication.” “How so?” “For one thing, my Dethrouge was targeting me specifically; the rest was just collateral. Yours seems more focused on general destruction than just you, so he probably has no clue what you’ve got up your sleeve. For another, you’ve still got him.” Igneoux followed up his statement by pointing to Alvono, who was currently intently focused on a music video about Shia LaBeouf. “''Alvono''?” Tech asked incredulously. “Me no comprehendè, por favor.” “Wait, what are you guys talking about?” Alvono asked, turning away from the computer. “If your timeline is anything like mine, Dethrouge draws all of his power from his armor.” Igneoux explained. “It’s ancient tech, so there’s no guarantee Alvono can interface with it, but it’s worth a shot.” “And exactly how will upgrading the murderous psychopath’s armor be of any help?” Tech asked. “Galvanic Mechamorphs also take control of whatever they upgrade. Alvono could shut down the armor, leaving Dethrouge open to attack.” “Ah, yes, because if there’s one thing I need, it’s to rely on this idiot saving the day.” Tech snarked, pointing towards Alvono. “A lot of people could say the same thing about you.” Tech rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Look, do you actually have any ideas, or are you just going to keep blabbing crap at me?” Igneoux shook his head. “Sorry, but I can only tell you what I already know. If you want more than that, you’re going to have to find this information out yourself. I’d say the Great Pyramids of Giza are your best bet.” Tech raised a cautious eyebrow. “...Why?” “In my universe, they have a significant connection to Dethrouge.” “...What do you mean by ‘connection’?” “Well, the pyramids were actually built by-” “I swear to all that is holy, if you finish that sentence with ‘aliens’, I am going to deck you across the room.” Tech snapped. “No, no.” Igneoux replied. “They were built by people.” Tech let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. That was about to get really stupi-” “...That just so happened to have had a lot of interactions with aliens.” Tech’s eye twitched incredulously. “...” “...Uh...you okay?” “...” “...” “''SON OF A BIIIIIIIIII''-” ---- There was a green flash as Tech and Igneoux popped into existence. They were inside a long, dusty hall made of ancient tan stone, with sparse electrical lighting lining the walls. “Wait a second.” Igneoux said. “You teleported us inside the pyramid?” “Well, yeah.” Tech said, trying to find his balance. “It’s not like they let tourists into the descending passage on a regular basis, you know.” “Why the descending passage?” “It’s not like we’re going to find any alien secrets where they actually do let in the tourists, now is it?” “Hold on a second, they let in tourists?!” Igneoux exclaimed. “Yeah. All the time. Is that not something they do in your timeline?” “Nope. Good thing, too.” “Why?” “Let’s just say there were only two and a half pyramids after my visit, and leave it at that.” Tech gave Igneoux an inquisitive glare for a few seconds, before turning and beginning to walk down the descending passage, Igneoux following close behind. After a few minutes, they came to a large room, the hallway continuing for a short way on the other wall before hitting a dead end. “And this would be the unfinished subterranean chamber.” Tech noted, examining his surroundings. “Pretty much what I was expecting.” Igneoux paced around the room, obviously confused. “I don’t get it!” He finally exclaimed. “No trapdoors, no snakes, no spike pits, no Apocalypse Earth rock traps, nothing! Not even the talking lion!” “Okay, you are going to have to back waaaaay the heck up, man.” Tech said. “Why would the Great Pyramid of Giza have booby traps?” “I don’t know, to prevent robbery or...something!” “You realize that the pyramid’s entrance is literally an ancient robber’s tunnel, right? If this thing was filled with that many traps, we couldn’t even get in here.” “I know, I know, it’s just...everything is so different here! At this point, I’d be surprised if there was any actual alien tech in here!” Tech sighed in frustration, leaning against a wall. “Well, that’s just great!” He snapped. “We came all the way down here, illegally mind you, for nothing?!” As soon as Tech finished speaking, the SpecTrix dial beeped and started glowing, slamming itself into a wall on the far side of the room, taking Tech with it. “''Ow''!” Tech yelled, unceremoniously removing his face from the stone. ”What the hell?!” The glow coming from the SpecTrix quickly spread through previously-unseen veins covering the room, eventually converging into a single orb in the center of one of the room’s walls. After a few seconds, the sound of stone grinding could be heard, as the wall split down the center of the orb and slid away, revealing a hidden passageway lit by strange blue torches. “Aha!” Igneoux yelled. “I knew there had to be something in here! Let’s go!” At that moment, Tech’s death glare was practically palpable. ---- At the end of the passageway was an impossible large room, filled with nothing but an arena pit and a life-size lion statue. On the other end of the room was a large, metal door. “Well, this at least seems pretty straightforward.” Tech said. “I just need to smash open the door and we’re good to go.” “Not so fast, human.” A deep, booming voice spoke. “What was that?” Tech froze, looking around the room. “You remember when I mentioned the talking lion earlier?” Igneoux replied. “...Oh.” Tech’s pupils shrunk. “''No''...” “Yep.” “''NO''.” “''YEP''.” “''THIS IS TOO STUPID. NO” “He’s right, you know.” The lion spoke. Tech’s eye twitched for a few seconds, before he threw up his hands in defeat. “You know what, ''screw it!” He snapped. “Just give us our stupid RPG side quest or whatever!” “Only those with a pure heart may pass through the door.” The lion explained. “You are not pure of heart.” “Oh, come on! I’m trying to save the galaxy here!” “What do you want, a cookie?” Tech opened his mouth to make a comeback, but found himself at a loss for words. “I...uh...” “...” “...Just tell us how to get in the door.” “As I said, you must have a pure heart.” The lion stated. Tech scratched his chin in thought for a few seconds, then snapped his fingers. “Hold on, my heart is pure!” He exclaimed. “What?” “Yeah! Pure, one hundred percent JERK!” An awkward silence fell over the room as Tech struck an over-dramatic pose. “You want to know the stupidest part of all this?” The lion spoke up after a few moments, a disappointed drawl obvious in its voice. “That’s technically a valid loophole.” “Ah, yes, ‘''technically''’, the best kind of valid!” Tech proclaimed. “Onward, B-movie protagonists! We have a Sharknado to unleash Godzilla upon! Allons-y!” He proceeded to start walking towards the metal door, taking exaggerated goose-steps, Igneoux and the lion statue staring on in confusion. “I think you broke him.” Igneoux remarked. “He does seem...perturbed, to say the least.” The lion agreed. ---- The metal door slid open as Tech approached it, revealing a small room filled with strange, almost organic computer equipment. A large monitor was mounted in the wall on the far side of the room, a tall, simple console with a green orb laid in its top standing below it. “What is all this?” Tech wondered aloud, slowly running his hand over the ancient equipment. “This is an ancient archive room created by the Animam Creari near the end of Earth’s first Intergalactic Age.” The lion statue explained, walking into the room. “It contains records of all events that transpired during said time period, including its downfall.” “''First'' Intergalactic Age?” Tech asked. “I thought that was happening now.” “No. The current age is Earth’s second time period to be connected with other planets.” “I have...so many questions about this.” “That console over there will explain all that you wish to know.” With that, the lion gestured to the stand on the far end of the room. Tech walked up to the console, noticing that the orb was still half a foot above him. “I feel like this wasn’t designed for humans.” He noted. “You would be correct.” Tech pulled his hoodie’s sleeve up, revealing the SpecTrix dial. “Well then, let’s test this new thing out.” He twisted the dial, selecting Golurth, then pressed the dial in. There was a rapid flash of green, in which Tech was almost instantaneously transformed. “Woah, okay, faster transformation time.” He said, steadying himself from the rapid shift in weight. “I’ll have to get used to that.” Looking himself over, he noticed that his earthy patterns were now curved, and his horn felt taller and curvier. “New body types?” He mused. “That...doesn’t change much, but it is interesting.” “Focus, Tech.” Igneoux reminded him. “Oh, right, the console.” Tech turned to the console, placing his hand on the green orb. After a few moments, he turned his head towards the lion. “Is there a user manual or something?” He asked. “Because I have to admit, I’m feeling kinda lost right now.” “Simply ask it a question, and the orb will transmit the user request to the database, displaying the information you seek on the monitor.” “Okay then.” Tech replied skeptically, turning his head back towards the monitor. “Weird orb-thing, can you make a basic summary of the First Intergalactic Age?” “That might be a bit of a complicated questio-” Igneoux began, but was quickly interrupted by the moniter loudly flickering to life. “Earth’s First Intergalactic Age began in the early days of Ancient Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, approximately 1974 BC, spanning until approximately 1791 BC.” A monotone voice crackled from the monitor. “Note: Much of this period has been altered in official Earth documentation to remove evidence of this occurrence. This age began when the Animam Creari discovered Earth in their travels to document new species. Surprised to find a sapient species in the outer fringes of the galaxy, the Animam Creari made contact with the humans of Egypt, expanding both species in terms of culture and knowledge.” “Huh.” Tech grunted. “Whaddya know. So, did the Animam Creari make any lasting impact?” “The Animam Creari did their best to avoid tampering with human technological progress, wishing to observe the species’ natural development process. Despite this, a select few assisted in minor areas, helping with the creation of things such as block statues, certain renovations to the pyramids of Giza, and the Great Sun armor.” “The...Great Sun armor? What’s the Great Sun armor?” The monitor flashed on, displaying schematics for a golden, lavishly decorated suit of armor. “Isn’t that...Dethrouge’s armor?” Igneoux asked. “''Ssshhh''!” Tech hushed. “The Great Sun armor was requested and created for Pharaoh Osirimes, who was of fourteen Terran years at the time of building. Created as a way to defend Egypt from various extraterrestrial threats attracted to the planet by the Animam Creari’s presence, the armor is powered by connection to the Terran system’s star, Sol, and loses much of its power outside the system. The armor also loses all power if incomplete, as a safety mechanism for the wearer. Normally stored inside a golden gauntlet, the armor expands to cover its wearer’s body when activated, based on the technology used to create the original Plumber Magistrates.” “Wait, it had most of its power gone when I fought Dethrouge?!” Tech yelled. “I suppose that explains why the fight ended so quickly.” Igneoux mused. “The fight ended so quickly because HE KILLED ME!” Tech snapped. “...He what?” “I got better. Still!” Tech made a noise similar to a deep breath. “Okay, whatever. Who was this Pharoah Osirimes guy?” “Pharoh Osirimes ruled Egypt in the last days of the First Intergalactic Age.” The monitor answered. “Wielding the Great Sun armor, he protected all of Egypt from all great threats, becoming beloved among his people. Unfortunately, one unusually strategic attack ended in the death of his wife, driving him to seek counsel from the Animam Creari, and eventually being granted access to this terminal. It was here that Osirimes learned of the Anti-Life Entity, and began a campaign of mass destruction, renaming himself to simply Dethrouge, and creating an army of Death Hounds from the native jackals with assistance from a visiting scientist named Xr. Nullamor.” “''Nullamor''?!” Tech yelled again. “How old is that guy?!” “Please stop shouting.” The lion asked. “This is very old equipment.” “Hold on a second.” Tech said. “This might be a bit of a silly question, feel free to ignore it if you want, really, but, uh, what in the ever-loving blue hell was that about an ‘Anti-Life Entity’?!” “That information has been permanently deleted from the system.” The monitor responded. “This is due to the unfortunate actions taken by Osirimes upon his discovery of it.” “Of course. Fine, one last question: what happened to Dethrouge?” “Dethrouge was eventually caught off-guard by a stasis charge also provided by Xr. Nullamor. In this permanent stasis, Dethrouge and his Death Hounds were placed in a prison dimension created by the Galvans known as the Null Void. After this, all extraterrestrial activity was pulled off of Earth to prevent any future incidents.” “...Hm. I, uh...I guess that’s all, then.” The monitor shut off, leaving the room silent again. “Well, we learned something valuable.” Igneoux said after a few moments. “If we can remove part of Dethrouge’s armor, he’ll lose his power.” “Something I should have been informed of YESTERDAY, but FINE.” Tech snapped, detransforming. “I still have one question, though.” “And you didn’t ask the archives because...?” Igneoux asked. “Because it’s more of a modern question! Look, if Dethrouge was sealed in the Null Void...” “Yes?” “Then who in the HELL let him out?!” ---- “Are you finished with your preparations?” “I’ve done all I need to.” Dethrouge and a smaller, orange-ish figure approached a large, metal structure. “How is the construction coming along?” Dethrouge asked. “I am not a patient man.” “Neither am I, but there’s only so much even I can do.” The figure replied. “If I had more material to create construction robotics out of, production would practically double in speed. As it is, you apparently need a ‘semi-clean-ish criminal record’ or whatever to purchase dangerous equipment in most markets.” “Are you sure this thing will even run on my energy pool? My armor has very limited output outside of the Terran system.” “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. I have some business of my own in that system. This weapon’s first target will be the Earth!” The figure walked into a lit part of the room, revealing itself to be a crab-like creature with an inordinately large head. “That planet will burn, or I am not The Puppet Master!” Characters Protagonists * Tech * Aquadilus * Alvono * Igneoux Antagonists * The Puppet Master * Dethrouge Minor Characters * Plumber Pilot * Galvanic Mechamorph Guard * Azmuth * Magister Blue * Xr. Nullamor (Mentioned) Aliens Used * Golurth Major Events * Tech meets Azmuth for the first time. * Magister Blue makes his debut. * Tech receives an upgraded SpecTrix. * Igneoux is revealed to be Tech from an alternate timeline. * Dethrouge's origin is revealed. * The Puppet Master makes his canonical debut. * The Puppet Master and Dethrouge are revealed to be working together. * The Puppet Master is revealed to be constructing a super-weapon, with his sights set on Earth. Category:Tech 10 Category:Tech 10: Rebooted Category:Episodes Category:Episodes of Tech 10: Rebooted Category:Earth-83